Agriculture
Plant Varieties Bill likely in Budget session
``THE process of collecting the views of various stakeholders on the Draft Plant Varieties and Farmer's Right Bill would be completed in the coming months, enabling the Government to table the amemnded Bill during the Budget Session,'' according to Mr. S
ahib Singh Verma, Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee set up to finalise the draft.
Community conservation - Plea for cess on farm produce sale
THE eminent agricultural scientist, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, has requested the Joint Parliamentary Committee, working on the Plant Varieties and Farmer's Right Bill to levy a cess of one per cent on the sale of agricultural products to support the community
genetic conservation activities.
New India chief for MPOPC
THE Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC), a non-profit organisation engaged in increasing the awareness of palm oil across the globe, has a new country representative for India in Mr. Biswajit Chowdhury.
Trade puts cotton crop at 163.5 l bales
TRADE estimate for the country's cotton production in 1999-2000 is virtually unchanged from the previous year despite the fall in area under cultivation and adverse weather conditions in many growing regions.
Winter rains may lift wheat crop to 75 mt
WITH the Northern States experiencing a good spell of rains over the last week, crop scientists believe that the 2.9 per cent decline in wheat production projected for the current year by the Agriculture Ministry will undergo a reversal and the crop size
may even surpass last year's record level of 71.01 million tonnes (m.t).
S. American soya crop seen down marginally
EVEN as the global oilseed market is looking at the progress of soyabean crop in South America following weather-related concerns, it is becoming increasingly clear that the output may be less than last year's, but only marginally.
China factor may lift turmeric exports
IN international trade, it sometimes seems that one country's gain will be another country's loss. So, the damage caused by floods to the Chinese turmeric crop is expected to boost the Indian turmeric exports this year. In fact, turmeric exports are expe
cted to double this year when compared to last year.
